Promise Me I'm Never Gonna Find You Fake It
by Itadaki.Yue
Summary: When it comes to emotions, Sai becomes a retard. However, when he finally gets a taste of what love really is, he must learn to never fake it, just like he does his smiles. Based off of "Complicated", a song by Avril Lavigne. SAI x OC reader


It was a chilly day—the cold draft that crept in from under your front door was enough to bring goose-bumps up your arms and crawl down your shoulder like spiders. The welcoming sunshine outside deceived all, for it was one of those days where it would be bright and cheery, yet the air felt completely frosty.

You were at home—your day off, of course—snuggled into a blanket and concentrated solely on watching a movie that you had rented yesterday. The film was some chick flick—quite unfit for a girl like you, but you didn't know at the time you took it out. Nonetheless, for the last half an hour or so all you did was sit there and watch the story blather on about a messed up love triangle.

You shivered a bit as a small mist of cold air smacked your face, and you tightly wrapped your quilt around your shoulders as you clenched your teeth and tucked yourself deeper into the sofa in your living room. Your bare feet peeked out from an end of the fabric and you pulled them in, rubbing them on your calves to ease your cold toes.

You felt a certain body next to you shift uncomfortably, and a pair of eyes looked at you. You sighed lightly, turning your head to meet an unsure gaze.

"Yes, Sai?" you blatantly asked.

Yes, it was Sai who sat beside you on the couch, watching your movie with you. Or, at least, was disturbing you and your day off… which would have been a quiet one lest he had to make his way over to your apartment just around the time you had planned to watch the movie (alone).

-Time shift-

_You hummed to yourself as you tore open a bag of popcorn kernels and popped it into the microwave. Making your way to your room, you grabbed a blanket and a nice soft pillow, which you tossed onto the couch that faced your television. The DVD player ejected its CD tray, and you plucked your movie disc from its case, setting it in place and loading it._

_Perfect._

_After a whole couple of months away from your home sweet home in Konoha, you were happy to have a day off to yourself to relax—no blood, no gore, no violence from Sakura, no shouting from the "dattebayo boy", no scary faces from Captain Yamato 1, and most of all--_

_NO awkward behaviour from a certain emotionally-challenged team-mate._

_Sakura and Naruto were obviously unable to tolerate him in the beginning, but you and the Captain seemed to be the only ones with enough maturity to disregard the odd things that the boy often did and said. _

_After the mission to try to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke, Sai began to approach the team, having remembered a little bit of what it was to be happy—all thanks to Naruto. Even you, who'd silently stood by with your arm crossed as Naruto bickered with Sai for calling you a "wannabe" 2, had been happy that Sai was finally melding into team seven._

_A humorous smile flitted across your face as you thought about how Sai was always attempting to act friendly with everyone, reading out of that stupid guide book of his, and always doing everything wrong. Sometimes he was so cute—_

_Your thoughts were cut off when the door bell rang, and you reflexively frowned. Who could it be? _

_You contemplated on not answering the door, but remembered that your apartment wasn't so soundproof, and the popping of corn in the kitchen could most likely be heard from outside the door._

_Sighing impatiently, you made your way for the door and unlocked it, whilst hoping whoever was there would leave as fast as they came…_

_You blinked. _

"_Sai?"_

_You were surprised, one from the fact that you had just been thinking about him, and two from his… showing up at your door, which he rarely did._

"_Hello, your name." he responded, with that trademark fake smile on his face._

_Recovering from your bit of surprise that he was here, you blinked again, then smiled. You wanted that door closed as soon as possible… with OR without him in your apartment, it didn't really matter—the cold was getting to you._

"_You want to tell me something?" you asked, then quickly back-pedalled, making an offer instead, just to be polite. _

"_Er, want to come in?"_

_As your eyes focussed from recovery of shock, you noticed something was off. _

_What the __**hell**__ was he wearing…?_

_A thin black tie circled his neck, tucked under the collars of solid pique polo, which was light blue in color.__ His pants were a pair of vintage boot-cut jeans, and he also wore a pair of onyx skateboard shoes._

_You recognized the style—you had seen this in a __foreign country, and it was a city to be exact—one of those cities that were more advanced, and celebrated figures flocked in those types of places. The style that Sai wore was what the street boys could be seen in, hanging around at popular joints with their buddies and girlfriends and etcetera… but more importantly…_

_Why was SAI wearing THOSE clothes?! Your thoughts were interrupted again._

_"… may I?" the strange boy questioned suddenly. Even worse, there was a strange look in his dark black eyes as he looked directly into yours._

_You mentally twitched, trying not to show how awkward you felt, and not wanting to reject him from anything before you even understood what he was trying to do._

_You stepped to the side, and he strutted in, almost a serious look on his face as he continued to stare into your eyes even as he walked past._

_You could only wish next time, you'd learn well to ignore the door and let the visitor hear your popcorn popping._

-end Timeshift-

You sat here now, raising an eyebrow at Sai, who merely smiled at you. You noticed he was shivering.

"Are you cold, Sai?" you asked cleanly, before decking yourself for asking such a stupid question. You stood up, pausing the movie for a second, without waiting for him to answer. "Let me get you some tea."

Making your way into the kitchen, you opened your cupboard. What was a fitting tea for guests? You leaned back, peeking your head at the kitchen doorway.

"Sai," you caught boy's attention—and also caught him flipping through a book hastily—and he quickly hid the book behind his back, before answering:

"Yes?" You gave him a strange look, but disregarded that odd action.

"Is there any particular tea you prefer? Your pick." you invited. "I have a wide variety of leaves." You turned your head to recite the labels on the many containers you had on the shelves.

"—white, green, blooming, rose hip, chai… oh, I can make you a chai tea latte too, if you want…" you trailed off, noticing that Sai had been silent the whole time.

You poked your head back out, and once again caught him busy with his book again.

"Sai!" you startled him. "Are you paying attention?" He merely responded with a nervous laugh. His oddity today was slightly grating on your nerves… first, it had to be the attire that he chose to show up in today, and when it was cold and you'd offer to make him a tea, he'd be busy reading that guide again… by now it would be obvious to you.

You stepped out into the doorway, hands on hips and looking very displeased.

"Sai, what are you reading?" you demanded, despite already knowing what it was. You now had a full intention to find out what he was up to, showing up out of the blue today.

"N-nothing!" he stammered. You raised an eyebrow, not really believing him, and he added weakly, "Nothing… important…."

You gave him one last studying glance, before pursing your lips to the side, and turning your back to him once again.

"Well, whether you like it or not, I'm making us a chai tea latte." You waited for a response, and then turned your head again to eye him. "Okay?"

"Whatever is fine, baby."

Your jaw went slack. Your eyes widened and you spun around, eyebrow raised for the millionth time today, shocked at what you just heard. Your mouth fell open when you looked at him.

Sai had his head propped by a bare, pale arm. One leg was bent and poised, and his polo shirt stretched to accentuate the thinly sculpted muscles of his chest and abs. His free hand rested on the knee of his bent leg, and his eyes darkened as he gave you a smile—and was it you, or was that second button on his polo shirt "suddenly" undone?

You would have squealed and drooled if you were one of those boy-crazy girls, but apparently you were the opposite, and this was a bit much for you. You felt lines of dread drawing down behind you.

… was this crazy guy trying to look sexy to swindle you…?

You scoffed to yourself, and a vein popped at your head. "And I said 'chai tea latte' is fine for you, Sai…?" you repeated, beginning to evaluate his behaviour.

"And I said, 'whatever is fine'," he responded almost immediately. "Baby…" he emphasized the last word. You frowned, tossed some bangs away from your eyes, and turned away once again, this time to _really _disregard him and make the tea.

He was really starting to freak you out.

You were going to think about what the HELL his objective was, coming to your house today. Though it _was_ becoming clear….

Washing and drying your hands quickly, you pulled out a pack of chai tea leaves and emptied them into a tea filter, placing the filter over a mug. You cursed yourself when you pressed a button on the hot water dispenser and not a single drop of liquid came out. You were out of hot water.

Sighing loudly at your luck, you removed a kettle from the stove and placed it under the tap, beginning to fill it with cool water.

You rubbed your temples. You were beginning to get a big tingly inside—though you were not so sure why—but you were sure as hell not liking it. Your guess was that Sai wanted to practice 'emotions' with someone, and decided that you'd be his victim today.

Not that you weren't willing to 'help' him learn his emotions, but this _really_ was your only day off… not to be selfish or rude, but you really wanted it to yourself. You didn't need a weirdo in weird clothes, acting completely weird and hanging around your apartment… but, there was also

NO ABSOLUTE WAY YOU COULD WALK OUT THERE AND TALK HIM OUT OF YOUR RESIDENCE.

You were just too soft at heart to do something like that. Now that you thought about it, Sai may _really_ just be a very sweet guy if he understood his emotions.

You trekked out of the kitchen, a bowl of popcorn in tow, smiling, and stopped before him. Just as you were thinking kindly, your warm thoughts ended right there when you saw him in that "sexy" pose again.

Ridiculous.

You kicked him.

He went wide-eyed, doubling over and holding his stomach. You hadn't kicked hard, but it was enough to blow the air out of his lungs and force him out of that god-damned sissy pose of his.

His eyes were shut tight in pain, and he opened one gingerly to look at you uncertainly.

"your name-c-chan…."

You exhaled, and placed the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in front of the sofa, before plopping down beside him and crossing your arms.

"Lesson one, Sai." You stated, looking him in the eye. "Wearing distinctive clothes does not impress girls… at least not girls like me." He looked a bit confused and hurt, and you quickly added, "Even IF it actually looks good on you."

He smiled again, and you were annoyed once more, opening your mouth to give him another bit of lecture, until you were interrupted by a sneeze. You were startled, as Sai sniffed.

Was he catching a cold…? You frowned, glaring at him. He caught sight of your face getting ugly 3, and a bead of sweat ran down his face.

"Yes, you _should_ feel stupid!" You retorted crossly at him. You were worried about his wellbeing, you'd admit, and even if it were really necessary, you still hated the feeling you had when you were worried about someone you cared.

Someone you cared….

"Sai," you began, leaning your head back into the sofa. "I just want to let you know that I really do understand your urgency to try to bring back your emotions. Honestly, I do." He straightened, staring at you wordlessly.

You took his cold hand, eyes softening.

"I honestly believe you are a really sweet guy, but there really isn't a need for you to come out looking all giddy and foolish today. See the weather outside? It's really cold today." you pointed out the window. "And as much as I want to be alone today, second thoughts tell me that having you around to hang around with me… it's much less quieter, and much more fun too."

You smiled warmly at the pale-skinned boy, who blinked at you as if seeing a new light. You threw the blanket you had around his shoulders, tucking it around him and giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. The truth came pouring down to you, just as it did to him… but you weren't sure if he understood.

"Sai…" he looked at you questioningly.

"I care for you, Sai."

His eyes widened considerably, and you truly understood why… no one had ever said something like that to him before, but that was really what you felt, and you knew that voicing it to him was the best way for you to start helping him remember his emotions.

The whistle of the kettle rose in the background, but the two of you were too busy staring into each other's eyes to care. You could see a flurry of unborn feelings flash within his dark eyes, and you wrapped your arms around his neck, leaning forward to press your cheek affectionately to him in a hug.

You could feel him stiffen up. You understood, you could read him like a book…

"Your name-chan…" he whispered softly. "… are you…" You pulled away a little.

"What you're doing to me… is it what they books say… an embrace?"

At this point, you really didn't know if it was him or just yourself who was being emotional, for you felt your eyes tear up.

Not wanting Sai to see you crying, you quickly pulled him to you in another short hug, before quickly excusing yourself and getting up with intentions to head to the kitchen to wipe your silly tears and relieve the shrieking kettle…

Thin arms encircled your waist, and you quickly found yourself falling back down, sitting between his legs, your back to him.

"Sai!" he silenced you by hugging you tighter around the waist, burying his face into your shoulder.

He was serious.

The two of you sat there for the longest time, the peace disturbed by the kettle, which screamed like an ignored, crying child in the kitchen. You would have pushed him away to get to the water, but you were much too happy being with him, much too happy just letting him hold you there in his arms.

"Your name-chan…" Sai said, and you nodded for him to continue. "Thank you…"

You smiled happily. Pulling out of his arms, you playfully placed your lips on to his, and he could do nothing but stare into your eyes in shock.

"Your name-chan…" you rested your head on his shoulder, and nodded to answer him even before he asked, leaving him stunned all over. "Do you love me…?"

You had never felt any more complete. You did, you did…

"I do…" you replied, your heartbeats increasing in speed, and you felt dizzy… and good inside.

He kissed you again. You were melting softly like wax. You put your hands on his face to pull him closer… this was heaven, and you never wanted to leave, you loved this moment, loved the perfection of it, love the bite of the cold, loved the warmth that formed on his cheeks below your fingers, loved the kettle's screech in the background, love HIM—

It all ended in an instant.

Suddenly, Sai found himself, holding his face with both of his OWN hands, this time in pain—a red slap mark on his face—and you, towering above him, looking ugly once again—holding a sore breast (I wonder why?)

You pointed at him angrily.

"…Sai, you…!" you glowered violently as he looked at you sheepishly. You didn't know how to begin at him. "…you… did… and I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANOTHER BUTTON UNDONE FROM THAT SHIRT! DUMBASS!" you yelled, before turning to head for the kitchen with a red face.

His voice stopped you midway.

"I really am thankful to you, though, your name-chan…" you could here sincerity in his voice. You grinned, even though he couldn't see it with your back turned to him.

"I know, Sai."

"I never expected to come here today and still find that you are patient with me, too." He continued. "This feeling I have… a type of overwhelming happiness… I think I love you, too, your name-chan…"

You wiped a tear. "I know, you baka 4."

"And…" you turned around, ready to run back to hug him in another emotional overflow.

.

"And, I never really knew how soft your breast really was until I actually felt it."

With that, Sai found himself sitting outside your apartment with a bowl of popcorn over his head.


End file.
